Tutorial for Paper Quilled Malaysian Flower

A few days ago I shared some tips on how to make folded circles. This shape is most often seen on a flower called the Malaysian flower. From what I know, it is called the Malaysian flower because the artist, Solehah Muhammad, who created the design is from Malaysia. She has a blog at My Quilling Soul. Click here to view her tutorial for making the flower. I think it’s pretty cool how Malaysian quillers are now renowned because of this flower that this artist created (just for the record, I am living in Malaysia, have been for 11 years, but I am American).

So to continue, I also am sharing a tutorial today for making a paper quilled Malaysian flower. I have some helpful tips that will hopefully help you avoid some little mistakes along the way! Firstly, make sure to check out my first post on how to make the basic shape, the folded circle. Once you’ve done that, read on!

I used all 1/8″ (3mm) width paper for this project, but you can use any width you’d like.

Supplies You Need (for one flower):

5 strips of paper 12″ long (I used deep rose color)

5 strips of paper 6″ long (I used soft yellow color)

5 strips of paper 6″ long for the border (I used deep rose color)

1 strip of paper 12″ long for the flower center (I used deep rose color)

Instructions:

First it’s time to make the closed circles for the petals! The total length for each petal is 18″. I used 12″ of deep rose glued to 6″ of soft yellow. Place each circle inside of a circle sizing board/template to make sure they are the same size. This is integral in making sure each petal ends up being the same size. For this flower I used the second largest circle size on the Lake City Craft template board. It is 3/4″ (1.9mm) in diameter. It is okay if you use a size that is slightly larger or smaller, it’s mostly important that the circles are all the same size. Remove the circles from the template and glue them closed.

Now it is time to shape your petals! You can use different tools or even just your fingers to shape the petals. The important thing is to make sure that each ends up the same size. I used the handle of an aluminum slotted quilling tool to wrap the petals around. Then pinch the ends together to make the teardrop shape. Now you need to wrap another strip around the border. I used a 6″ strip of deep rose. Glue the strip as shown, let it dry for at least a few seconds, and then gently but firmly wrap it around, making sure the two tips stay touching. I like wrapping the border around 3 times. This leaves a little bit extra which I just ripped off before gluing down the end.

Here you can see how sometimes the petals can end up different shapes. The two petals on the left were made with the same size circles. But the one on the left wasn’t wrapped around the tool fully, so as you can see the center part of it isn’t as big. This makes the entire teardrop bigger. To check whether your petals are all the same size, put them on top of each other as in the second photo here.

Glue the petals together on your workboard as a flower.

To make the center of the flower, glue together the 12″ and 6″ lengths and make a tight roll. Glue to the center. There are many types of centers you could use for this flower (or not even use a center at all!). A fringed center would look cool, or even a pearl bead or something similar.

Now there is the question of what to do with your gorgeous flowers! They would make beautiful jewelry (click here to read some posts on how to add sealant to turn them into jewelry). This time I used them as a card decoration for a simple yet lovely card for a friend.

I hope you enjoy the paper quilled Malaysian flower tutorial and find it helpful! Feel free to leave any comments or questions, and stick around to view some more great pages here!

Click here to view a list of places to buy quilling supplies around the world!

Click here to view some of my own quilling projects, with tips so you can make your own if you’d like!

*All products and supplies mentioned in this post I purchased and/or made on my own.

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my first quilling flower! Didn’t turn out quite as nicely as yours but I’m pleased! Your instructions were easy to follow 🙂 I ended up with a smaller spiral (3rd biggest circle on my board. No matter what I tried, I could not wrap less tightly. Something to work on. (my pedals’ spirals were not as nicely spread out.)

Thanks for letting me know how it went for you! What type of paper are you using? If you are using thin paper, like computer printing weight (70 or 80gms) then that might be the reason why it won’t expand as much. Quilling strips are heavier weight (90-120gms).

Hi I like paper quilling now only I have started doing paper quilling.i want to know how to make same sized petals for any flower?i don’t have a paper quilling board.as I won’t be doing paper quilling much I thought of not buying it.hope u can help me.

would like to know that if these are used for earring purpose ,how to varnish these and other beehive technique earring.if possible can u put a tutorial or tip for varnishing beehive type and open type earring

Oh, beehive! I thought you meant Malaysian flower. I’ll take photos of that process as well, but yes, do it in the same manner! You don’t want to ruin th delicate beehive coils, so you do a veeeerrrry thing layer on one side, let it dry. Do this twice on each side and then it should be sturdy enough for a heavy coat.